The present invention relates to a method of recording compensatable calls routed by an interexchange communication network directly to a called telephone subscriber under a local connection arrangement.
Traditional communication service is provided by an integrated communication network that includes several local exchange carriers ("LECS") and at least one inter exchange carrier ("IXC"). As the name implies, the inter exchange carrier provides long distance communication services interconnecting the various LECS.
Under the traditional telephone service, a customer's telephone connects to a LEC switch. The LEC provides regional, typically non-toll communication services to the customer (local calls). Long distance communication service traditionally is provided by the IXC by routing a call from a subscriber's originating LEC to a terminating LEC.
IXCS are beginning to provide alternate access for their larger customers. It is known for IXCS to provide direct connections to their larger customers. Typically, the direct connection is provided pursuant to some primary communication service to which the large customer has subscribed, such as 1-800 service. The local access arrangement is an auxiliary communication feature that uses excess capacity on the dedicated connection.
Under the local access arrangement, the IXC becomes a local service provider ("LSP") for the large customer. It completes local calls to the large customers. The IXC receives the local call in a variety of ways. For example, a first large customer may establish a local call with a second large customer, both of whom possess a direct connection with the IXC. Alternatively, if a LEC provides a "local number portability" feature, a smaller customer may be permitted to designate the IXC as a carrier of choice for local calls, compelling the LEC to forward the call to the IXC for completion. Other ways may exist.
For these local calls, the IXC and second customer act as a LEC to route calls. The IXC and second customer share a portion of the revenue that the LEC normally would receive. To accurately compensate the second customer for calls under the local access arrangement, the IXC must distinguish local access calls from calls routed to the customer under the primary service. No known system provides such a distinction.
Terminating service by alternate access ("TSAA") is another communication arrangement established between IXCS and their larger communication customers. As with the local access arrangement, the TSAA arrangement may be established when the IXC provides a dedicated physical connection from a terminating IXC communication switch directly to the communication equipment of the large customer. The TSAA arrangement is an auxiliary to some primary service.
A typical configuration for the TSAA arrangement is shown in FIG. 1. The large customer's equipment may be a private branch exchange ("PBX"). The PBX may connect to the terminating switch over, for example, a T1 trunk. For long distance calls placed to the large customer through the TSAA arrangement, the IXC routes the call to the customer's PBX over the dedicated trunk. Thus, under the TSAA arrangement, the customer acts as an access provider for itself. The IXC compensates the customer as such, the making the TSAA arrangement a revenue source for the customer.
Not all calls that are routed from an IXC terminating switch to the customer over the dedicated line are compensatable calls. Some are associated with the primary service. Accordingly, the terminating switch employs a method of discriminating compensatable calls from non-compensatable calls, shown in FIG. 2, to credit the TSAA access provider.
During call setup, the terminating switch communicates with other IXC switches in a call path between it and the originating subscriber. As part of call setup procedure for each long distance call in the IXC, the terminating switch receives a service code identifying a type of service or features associated with the call. The service code may indicate how the call is being billed; for example, whether the call is a traditional toll call (billed to the dialing subscriber), a collect call or a 1-800 call (these latter two being billed to the terminating subscriber). Further, the service code may indicate a grade of service for which that the customer has subscribed. In the communication networks maintained by the assignee, AT&T, the service code may be a service identity index ("SII") code.
Based on the service code, the terminating switch refers to a memory table (not shown) that associates the code with compensatable and non-compensatable events for the TSAA arrangement. The service code may indicate that some calls are not to be compensated under the TSAA arrangement. For example, terminating subscribers typically pay for routing of 1-800 calls over the direct trunk under a traditional service plan. The 1-800 calls cannot be credited under the TSAA arrangement.
If the service code does not disqualify the call as a non-compensatable event, the call is not necessarily compensatable. The terminating switch determines whether the call is a plain old telephone service ("POTS") call. Large purchasers of communication services often negotiate preferred rates of communication services due to the volume of communication services that they purchase. These are designated non-pots calls. The IXC service provider may disqualify the non-pots call from the TSAA arrangement. If the call is not a POTS call, the call is determined to be non-compensatable.
To determine whether the call is a POTS call, the terminating switch refers to common translations for the first six (6) digits of a dialed number/routing number associated with the call. The translations are provisioned earlier in the network to indicate whether the call is POTS or not. For example, as implemented by the assignee, a Called Handling Instruction ("CHI") indicator is a field populated in the translations. This field is pre-provisioned with different values, one of them representing a POTS call. The CHI value is derived during the digit translations.
If the call is a POTS call, the terminating switch determines whether the service code maps to a compensatable event. The service code maps to a non-compensatable event when it indicates that the call is routed to the large customer according to a primary service, such as the 1-800 service. Thus, the service code disqualifies the call from being compensatable under the TSAA arrangement.
Finally, the terminating switch determines whether the customer is a participant in the TSAA arrangement. Again, a memory table (not shown) identifies which customers are participant in the service.
If these three conditions are met, the terminating switch generates an automatic message accounting ("AMA") billing record (not shown). Once the call is answered, the terminating switch monitors call activity and records the call when the call terminates.
To implement the desired local access arrangement, the IXC must be able to distinguish local calls from calls to be routed to the customer pursuant to another service. The TSAA compensation system cannot identify local calls and, therefore, cannot distinguish compensatable from non-compensatable calls. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system that distinguishes local access calls from other calls routed by an IXC to customers over dedicated trunks for the purposes of compensation.